Excerpt from Spiritual Exercises (1548)

Reprinted in The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

Translated by Louis J. Puhl
Published in 2000

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a reform movement called the Catholic Reformation took place within the Roman Catholic Church. The reform effort is also frequently called the Counter Reformation, but many historians prefer not to use this term. It suggests that changes within the church were simply a reaction to the Protestant Reformation, the reform movement started in 1517 by the German priest Martin Luther (see entry). In fact, many Catholics were already aware that reform was needed as early as the fifteenth century, one hundred years before Protestants left the church and formed a separate Christian religion. By that time popes (supreme heads of the church), cardinals (officials ranking directly below the...